Magistrates in Hendon, North London, heard this week how the unnamed woman ‘slapped and grabbed’ her daughter during the show, after the little girl grew ‘hysterical’ and tried to push forward through the crowd.
Tensions were already high between the mother and her daughter by the time they arrived at Wembley Stadium for the show, with the pair running late after getting lost finding their hotel.
Indeed, the court heard how ‘emotions were fraught’ as the 34-year-old nurse and her daughter finally arrived at the concert.
The incident came to the attention of the authorities after three fellow concert-goers witnessed the woman’s behaviour towards her daughter, and reported it to the stadium’s security guards.
Appearing in court charged with assault, the mother appeared visibly upset, telling magistrates: “I am not a bad mother and she is not a bad kid. She was cross because I embarrassed her in front of her friend.”
A representative for the prosecution drew attention to the fact that the mother had been drinking before the event and had brought a water bottle containing alcohol into the venue.
The district judge sentenced the woman to 150 hours of community service and a 19-month supervision order, saying: “You daughter was excited but also you were stressed due to getting lost. You tried to deal with that by having some alcohol. You lost your self-control.”
“The injury was relatively minor but who knows the psychological impact it would have had. She was by dint of her age very vulnerable,” he added.
